Steven Slater, a 28-year employee of Jet Blue, got as mad as hell.

A passenger was rude to him, getting on his last nerve and even hit him with a
suitcase. Slater launched into a profanity-laced tirade, grabbed a beer and
slid down the plane's emergency chute.

Now Slater is being praised as a "working-class hero". His story has
touched a nerve with employees who are tired of working long hours, living in
fear of being fired, dealing with obnoxious customers, and not being
appreciated by their boss.

Take This Job and Shove It

This is why more people are joining the entrepreneurial revolution. You can
choose who you want to work with, make your own hours, and only work with
customers that you like and respect.

According to business expert, Loral Langemeier, "Our founding fathers
didn't fight the revolution so we can have jobs." Having your own business
is becoming part of the American Dream. Employees are even starting part-time
businesses so they can claim their independence and tell bosses and abrasive
customers to shove it.

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I was shocked!

I went in to pick up my dry cleaning and a guy who looked like this was behind
the counter waiting on customers.

Can You Believe It?

Image and first impressions are so important. Small businesses make the same
mistake as my dry cleaners and I'm amazed that even large companies spend lots
of money on massive advertising campaigns, but don't pay attention to the front
line people dealing directly with customers.

 Image
and First Impressions in Your Business

• Appearance: Your
  appearance should match your clients. I just saw Tony Hsieh from
  Zappos.com speak onstage and this is what he wore. He doesn't wear a suit,
  but his look matches his relaxed image.
• Online:
  People will check you out online before their initial contact with your
  company, so they need to have a good experience with your web site, social
  media and email marketing.
• Logo: Your
  logo needs to represent your company with professionalism and
  friendliness.
• Voice
  Mail:
  Your voice mail needs to welcome people and not become a frustrating
  circus that never leads to a human being.
• Location: Your
  place of business should be inviting. If you're a home-based business,
  meet people in warm, relaxed locations like restaurants and hotel lobbies.
  Some coffee houses are too hectic for business.
• Telephone: Have
  you ever called a company and felt like you were an interruption to
  someone's day? Customers are looking for a great telephone experience with
  someone who can provide great solutions for their lives.

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Terry Neese, a successful small-business
owner and the former president of the National Association of
Women Business Owners (NAWBO), founded the
a non-profit charity and wanted to help business women globally.

She approached companies for sponsorship and got some very generous funding from AT&T.

Now women business owners in
Afghanistan and Rwanda can take an eight-week business training course. Then these women come to America and are matched with mentors. For example, a bee keeper from
Afghanistan is matched with a woman bee keeper with 600 hives in upper Michigan.

AT&T is a sponsor for Terry Neese and is helping to make her dreams of global women's empowerment come true.
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As a business owner, you can celebrate a different kind of
freedom this Fourth of July.
 
You have time freedom, location freedom, people freedom and money freedom.
 
You can set your own hours, work wherever you want, and make as much money as
your ambition dictates.
 
Enjoy spending time with your family and friends and declare your independence.

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Did You Know That
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Created the Giving Pledge?

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and
investor Warren Buffett are asking hundreds of billionaires to give away at
least 50 percent of their wealth to charity.

They
named the campaign the Giving Pledge. It does not accept any money. It asks
billionaires to make a commitment to give money to charity.

Americans
Continue Their Charitable Giving

Even
though charitable contributions fell by 3.6% last year, Americans continued to
be generous to charitable causes. The total giving was $303.75 billion dollars
to non-profit charities.

Areas that saw an increase in charitable contributions included human services,
health, international aid and environment/animals sectors.

Sponsors
and Companies are Giving More to Causes

Corporate
giving was up 5.5% to $14.1 billion, which included billions of dollars' worth
of in-kind donations, particularly from information technology firms and
pharmaceutical manufacturers.

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Why
Aren't More Women Running Million Dollar Businesses?

Susan Wilson Solovic, author of The Girls' Guide to Building a
Million-Dollar Business, was the keynote speaker at Women's Small
Business
Expo a few years ago.

Solovic
posed the question, "Why aren't more women running
million-dollar businesses?" Her answer was, "Not thinking big
enough."

I totally agree and so does Sharon Hadary in her recent article in
the Wall Street Journal.

Hadary notes that women have been launching businesses at twice the rate
of men, and their growth rates of employment and
revenue have outpaced the economy.

But despite all this progress, on average, women-owned businesses
are still smaller than their male counterparts. Although the gap has
narrowed, women-owned firms are still only 27% of the average of
male-owned
businesses.

 
Think Bigger

• Invest in yourself and your business
• Hire
  professionals
• Form success teams
• Create compelling
  marketing
• Establish yourself as the expert in your industry
• Become
  a sales superstar
• Embrace change and take more risks

Look

at your pricing and think about raising your rates. That's
right. I said raising your rates, even in a challenging economy. People
will always pay for quality, service and value.

Let's get more
women into the Million Dollar Club.

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